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Awards

The 2024 British Guild of Beer Writers Awards are now open for entries.

The winners and runners-up, alongside our ‘Brewer of the Year’ will be announced during our esteemed annual event, which will be held in London on Wednesday 27th November at Big Penny Social. Tickets for the annual dinner and awards will go on sale later in the year.

 

CATEGORIES

Please read our Judging Criteria page for more information before you enter the awards, and note that there are some changes for 2024 (two new awards, plus a limit of two pieces of work per category, and unlike previous years, any length of audio or video submission can now be entered into the respective categories).

 

Best Commissioned Beer Writing – sponsored by Greene King

Gold: £1,000 • Silver: £500

This award is for written (not audio/video/photography) work that has been commissioned by a publication such as a newspaper, magazine, or other publication in print or online, rather than self-published.

 

Best Short-Form Beer Writing *new award for 2024*

Gold: £1,000 • Silver: £500

This award is open to self-published and commissioned work that is around, or less than, 1,000 words. It could be published in a newspaper, magazine, blog, newsletter, or on a social platform such as Instagram.

 

Best Technical Communication about Beer *new award for 2024*

Gold: £1,000 • Silver: £500

This award is for communication that digs into the process of brewing, serving, or drinking beer. This could include anything from in-depth beer reviews, to homebrew podcasts and videos – as well as detailed pieces about ingredients and technique. Academic articles are also welcomed.

 

Best Book about Beer or Pubs

Gold: £1,000 • Silver: £500

This category recognises the vibrant beer and pub books sector and gives them their own platform. Submissions are welcome from authors, photographers, and illustrators, and publishers can nominate one of their books. Self-published books should be entered into the Best Self-Published Beer Writing category.

 

Best Audio Beer Communication

Gold: £1,000 • Silver: £500

This award seeks to recognise and reward the individual making the best use of audio media to communicate about beer and pubs. Open to podcasts, audio documentaries, radio programmes and other audio. Unlike previous years, any length of audio can be submitted.

 

Best Video Beer Communication

Gold: £1,000 • Silver: £500

This award seeks to recognise and reward the individual making the best use of video media to communicate about beer and pubs. Open to YouTube videos, TV programmes, films, and other videos. Unlike previous years, any length of video can be submitted.

 

Best Communication about No and Low Alcohol Beer

Gold: £1,000 • Silver: £500

This award rewards the best written, audio, video, or photography work about low and no alcohol beer, including press articles in trade or consumer-facing publications, blogs, radio or TV broadcasts, podcasts or any other communication that reports on this topic.

 

Best Communication about Sustainability in Beer and Pubs

Gold: £1,000 • Silver: £500

This award rewards the best written, audio, video, or photography work about sustainability in the beer and pubs sector. Submissions can be press articles in trade or consumer-facing publications, blogs, radio or TV broadcasts, podcasts or any other communication that reports on this topic.

 

Best Communication about Beer and Travel – sponsored by VISITFLANDERS

Gold: £1,000 • Silver: £500

We’re looking for written, audio, video, or photography work about beers and or/pubs and bars you’ve experienced while travelling, either abroad or in the UK.

 

Best Communication about Pubs – sponsored by Shepherd Neame

Gold: £1,000 • Silver: £500

This award recognises the best written, audio, video, or photography work about the great British pub. Print or online articles, radio or TV broadcasts and podcasts can all be submitted.

 

Best Newcomer to Beer Communication

Gold: £1,000 • Silver: £500

This award is open to anyone who has been communicating (writing, audio, video, photography, PR, training, marketing, etc.) about beer (in a paid or unpaid capacity) for less than two years. Entries for this category can be written, audio or video.

 

Best Beer Business Communicator

Gold: £1,000 • Silver: £500

To win this award, we’re looking for written, audio, video or photography work about the business of pubs or beer. Maybe it appears in trade titles aimed at licensees, restaurateurs, BWS buyers for supermarkets or bottle shop owners – or maybe it takes a look from outside.

 

Best Self-Published Beer Writing

Gold: £1,000 • Silver: £500

This award is for written (not audio/video/photography) work that has been self-published rather than commissioned, including books, blogs, social media posts, website pieces, etc. Blogs and websites will be judged on both the quality of the writing and the design – as both are important in enthusing readers.

 

Best Citizen Beer Communicator

Gold: £1,000 • Silver: £500

This award is open to anyone who has never communicated (writing, audio, video, photography, PR, social media, training, marketing, etc.) about beer in a professional capacity. Entries for this category can be written, audio or video. No fee is required to enter this category.

 

Best Communication About Cider

Gold: £1,000 • Silver: £500

This award is open to written, audio, video, or photography work about cider and cider making. Print or online articles, radio or TV broadcasts, and podcasts can all be submitted. Unlike previous years, any length of audio or video can be submitted.

 

Guild Award for Best Communication About Diversity in Beer

Gold: £1,000 • Silver: £500

This award is open to written, audio, video, or photography work dealing with issues of diversity in the world of beer and pubs (e.g. age, gender, gender identity, sexuality, race, religion, ability, and other aspects of diversity). No fee is required to enter this category.

 

Best Corporate Beer Communication

Trophy to the winner

This category is open to companies and other organisations as well as individuals, who have created written, audio, video, or photography work that has been produced for the specific purpose of promoting a business or product. Entries can be aimed at internal, trade, or consumer audiences, and entrants should demonstrate how their work has achieved the organisation’s communications objectives. NB: the winner of this award receives a trophy but no prize money.

 

At the awards event, we also announce our Brewer of the Year, sponsored by SIBA. This is decided by member vote and polling will open later this year.

. . .

Who can enter?

  • Our awards are open not just to writers, but to anyone who communicates about beer. This includes journalists, authors, bloggers, poets, illustrators, filmmakers, broadcasters and photographers.
  • Submissions must only come from the authors of the work, or the publishers with the author’s consent.
  • All entries from businesses should be entered into the Best Corporate Beer Communication category only, and there is no cash prize for this award.
  • The awards are not limited to work published in the UK, but entries must be in English (or translated into English by the entrant).
  • The only people who cannot enter are the judges.

 

What does it cost to enter?

Guild members can enter the awards free of charge. Non-members can apply to join the Guild here, with a membership fee of £55 for the year (inclusive of VAT). Alternatively, non-members must pay a one-off fee of £55 (inclusive of VAT) to cover all their submissions (unless entering Best Citizen Beer Communicator or Best Communication About Diversity in Beer, which are both free to enter).

 

Qualifying period

Work submitted must have been first published between 1st September 2023 and 25th August 2024.

 

What do you have to do to win?

It’s entirely up to the judges what wins, and no one can predict what will do well. But the winning entries tend to have certain shared qualities:

  • Passion: If you’re not that interested in your subject, it’s doubtful you’ll persuade anyone else to be. In the best writing, the love of beer and pubs is obvious – and infectious.
  • Originality: This is relative of course – the big themes in beer and pubs are written about year after year. But the awards reward fresh perspectives. Knowledge and authority about the subject might seem essential, but can be beaten by an inspiring cry from the heart from a new arrival to the world of beer.
  • Clarity and readability: In order to communicate well, you need to communicate clearly. It helps enormously if you are clear, engaging and accessible.
  • Quality, not quantity: If you write a great deal, you’re encouraged to think about your very best work – one great piece stands a better chance than four averagely good ones. If you’re not prolific, don’t worry – in past years writers submitting one lone article have won an award.

 

Helpful information for your entry:

  • A maximum of two pieces of your work can be entered into each category.
  • One piece of work can be entered into a maximum of two categories.

If you are submitting books, magazines or other work that can’t be uploaded to the entries website, please send two copies per category initially (email daisy@tipplemarketing.com for the postal address). Note that we will require further copies if your work progresses to shortlist.

 

What is the deadline to enter?

Entries must be received via the dedicated entry form (or by post for physical copies) by the closing date of 25th August 2024.

 

When do we announce the winners?

We publish a shortlist of those entrants whose work is being considered for a prize, in November. The winners and runners-up for each award, and the overall Beer Writer of the Year will be announced at the British Guild of Beer Writers annual awards dinner, to be held on Wednesday 27th November at Big Penny Social in London.

We welcome all Guild members and industry friends to attend this event, which has become one of the most popular fixtures in the drinks industry calendar. Tickets for the event will be on sale soon.